Film in Review; Bug

By JEANNETTE CATSOULIS

Published: May 25, 2007

Opens today nationwide.
Directed by William Friedkin
102 minutes

There was a time when Ashley Judd seemed poised to take on if not great roles, then at least interesting ones. Her 1993 breakthrough in the delicate drama ''Ruby in Paradise'' suggested that she could go far in films that called for vulnerable young women with steely underpinnings. Instead she strayed into mediocre thrillers (''Kiss the Girls,'' ''High Crimes'') that not even Morgan Freeman's dignified presence could salvage.

In ''Bug,'' an overwrought psychodrama directed by William Friedkin, Ms. Judd's acting continues to surpass her career choices. Playing a vaguely unstable barmaid living in a seedy Oklahoma motel, she convincingly juggles an abusive husband (a bulked-up Harry Connick Jr.) and a newfound lover (Michael Shannon), who sees creepy-crawlies in the mattress and conspiracies everywhere.

Adapted by Tracy Letts from his 2004 play, ''Bug'' builds momentum from Michael Grady's agitated camera movements and Ms. Judd's increasingly distressed face. Mr. Friedkin has always been more fascinated by the evil inside our heads than the boogeyman outside, and he knows how to turn small spaces -- like the bedroom in ''The Exorcist'' -- into horrific theaters of war.

The escalating hysteria and grisly set pieces of ''Bug'' may strain credulity, but Ms. Judd has never been more believable as a woman condemned to attract the wrong kind of man. JEANNETTE CATSOULIS